7:14 PM, February 9, 2014

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Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

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Michigan State's Keith Appling drives to the basket as Michigan's Derrick Walton Jr. defends during the second half of U-M's win Jan. 25 in East Lansing. / Leon Halip/Getty Images

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Big win for Wisconsin today in Kohl Center. It shouldn’t matter to the Badgers that they played a Michigan State team missing two key starters — including Keith Appling, who shredded them in a five-game MSU winning streak in the series over the past two seasons — because all you can do is play your schedule. Wisconsin needed a home win, needed to show improvement on defense, achieved both.

I would not say Wisconsin re-entered the Big Ten race today. The Badgers and Ohio State Buckeyes both seem to be emerging from their bizarre funks, but five losses is too many, even with MSU and Michigan both losing this weekend. I just can’t see both the Spartans and Wolverines losing three more games the rest of the way. (I also don’t think the Buckeyes and Badgers are in their class.)

Two more losses? Certainly possible. So the Big Ten headline of the weekend is that Iowa sort of stayed in it. The Hawkeyes still have to go to MSU, Indiana and Minnesota, with a home game against Wisconsin. The MSU game at Michigan on Feb. 23 is most likely to decide this thing, but the Hawkeyes are still faintly alive.

Speaking of Feb. 23 in Ann Arbor, that could be the return date for both Appling and Branden Dawson. Maybe one or both will be back Feb. 20 against Purdue. The way Tom Izzo made it sound after the Wisconsin game, the Spartans are almost certainly going to be Appling-free for home games in the next week against Northwestern and Nebraska.

Travis Trice has stepped up with strong floor games in the first two DNPs of Appling’s career, and Adreian Payne has taken no time to go lottery pick on everyone — he has 36 points in 50 minutes of action since his return. The fact that MSU now has him as a post/pick-and-pop option again is critical for its halfcourt offense.

That said, I thought MSU could have gone to him a lot more in this game, especially with other options limited and Gary Harris missing shot after shot — most of them solid looks or better, a few of them needless forces. Maybe the Spartans are still getting used to having him, but late in the game, Izzo made certain the offense went through him.

This team has enough for a 2-0 home week and a better vibe at 22-4 entering the biggest week of the season. But there’s no telling when Appling and Dawson will be back, or if/when the Spartans will truly get everything together, or how much they’ll regret this missed opportunity.